The Demands of the People of #Tuzla, #Sarajevo & #Bihac (English)
The situation in BiH is changing rapidly. Numerous cantonal governments have already resigned and we can expect further protests in the coming days. The authorities in BiH have already begun a concerted campaign of disinformation about the causes of these protests and their aims. In an effort to support the struggle of the workers and students in BiH, I am publishing here the English translations of the demands issued by representatives of the people of Tuzla, Sarajevo and Bihac, ably translated by my colleagues Konstantin Kilibarda (Tuzla) and Marina Antić (Sarajevo, Bihac). The original texts can be viewed here, here and here.
Please share these demands widely, copy, paste and disseminate them as you see fit. Change is coming to BiH and we can help be a part of it.
Tuzla
DECLARATION 7 February 2014. Today in Tuzla a new future is being created! The [local] government has submitted its resignation, which means that the first demand of the protestors has been met and that the conditions for solving existing problems have been attained. Accumulated anger and rage are the causes of aggressive behaviour. The attitude of the authorities has created the conditions for anger and rage to escalate.
Now, in this new situation, we wish to direct the anger and rage into the building of a productive and useful system of government. We call on all citizens to support the realization of the following goals:
(1) Maintaining public order and peace in cooperation with citizens, the police and civil protection, in order to avoid any criminalization, politicization, and any manipulation of the protests.
(2) The establishment of a technical government, composed of expert, non-political, uncompromised members. [They should be people] who have held no position at any level of government and would lead the Canton of Tuzla until the 2014 elections. This government should be required to submit weekly plans and reports about its work and to fulfill its proclaimed goals. The work of the government will be followed by all interested citizens.
(3) Resolving, through an expedited procedure, all questions relating to the privatization of the following firms: Dita, Polihem, Poliolhem, Gumara, and Konjuh. The [government] should:
§ Recognize the seniority and secure health insurance of the workers.
§ Process instances of economic crimes and all those involved in it.
§ Confiscate illegally obtained property.
§ Annul the privatization agreements [for these firms].
§ Prepare a revision of the privatization.
§ Return the factories to the workers and put everything under the control of the public government in order to protect the public interest, and to start production in those factories where it is possible.
(4) Equalizing the pay of government representatives with the pay of workers in the public and private sector.
(5) Eliminating additional payments to government representatives, in addition to their income, as a result of their participation in commissions, committees and other bodies, as well as other irrational and unjustified forms of compensation beyond those that all employees have a right to.
(6) Eliminating salaries for ministers and eventually other state employees following the termination of their mandates.
This declaration is put forward by the workers and citizens of the Tuzla Canton, for the good of all of us.
Demonstranti iz Tuzle iznijeli svoje zahtjeve
Demonstranti u Tuzli danas su, nakon što je premijer TK Sead Čaušević dao ostavku, pružili ruku policajcima i obustavili nerede i kamenovanje zgrada institucija vlasti. U večernjim satima putem društvenih mreža objavili su svoje zahtjeve.
« Danas se u Tuzli kreira nova budućnost! Vlada je podnijela ostavku, čime je ostvaren prvi zahtjev demonstranata i stečeni su uslovi za rješavanje postojećih problema. Ljutnja i nagomilani bijes su uzroci nasilnog ponašanja. Odnos vlasti doveo je do toga da ljutnja i bijes eskaliraju », naveli su demonstranti.
Istakli su da u novonastaloj situaciji ljutnju i bijes žele usmjeriti na izgradnju produktivnog i korisnog sistema vlasti te iznijeli svoje zahtjeve:
1. Održavanje javnog reda i mira u saradnji građana, policije i civilne zaštite, kako bi se izbjeglo bilo kakvo kriminaliziranje, politiziranje i bilo kakva manipulacija protestima.
2. Uspostavljanje tehničke vlade, sačinjene od stručnih, nestranačkih, nekompromitovanih članova, koji do sada nisu imali niti jedan mandat ni u kojem nivou vlasti, koja bi vodila TK do Izbora 2014. Ova Vlada mora imati obavezu podnošenja sedmičnih planova i izvještaja o radu i ostvariti zadate ciljeve. Rad Vlade prate svi zainteresirani građani.
3. Rješavanje, po hitnom postupku, pitanja regularnosti privatizacije firmi: Dita, Polihem, Poliolhem, Gumara i Konjuh, i to da se radnicima uveže radni staž i osigura zdravstvena zaštita; procesuira privredni kriminal i svi akteri koji su u njemu učestvovali, oduzme nelegalno stečena imovina, ponište privatizacijski ugovori, uradi revizija privatizacije, vrate fabrike radnicima i stave pod kontrolu javne vlasti u cilju očuvanja javnog interesa, i pokrene proizvodnja u onim fabrikama gdje je to moguće.
4. Ujednačavanje plata predstavnika vlasti sa platama zaposlenih u javnom i privatnom sektoru.
5. Ukidanje dodatnih plaćanja predstavnicima vlasti, uz lični dohodak, po osnovu učešća u komisijama, odborima i drugim tijelima, kao i druge nerazumne i neopravdane nadoknade mimo onih na koja imaju pravo svi zaposleni.
6. Ukidanje plata ministrima i eventualno drugim državnim službenicima nakon isteka ili prestanka mandata.
(Klix.ba)
Sarajevo
With regards to yesterday’s protests across Bosnia and Herzegovina and the media’s attempt to discredit this justified rebellion, this informal group of citizens and protest participants repeats our demands to the government.
IN THE NAME OF CITIZENS ON THE STREETS OF SARAJEVO
We declare:
We, the people who went out onto the streets of Sarajevo yesterday, also regret the injuries and damage to properties, but our regret also extends to the factories, public spaces, cultural and scientific institutions, and human lives, all of which were destroyed as a direct result of actions by those (ALL THOSE) in power for, now, over 20 years. We ask our fellow citizens and fellow sufferers not to allow these unpleasant scenes to cloud the fact that this kind of government and those in power have costs us immeasurably more.
We, thus, demand:
• Unconditional and immediate resignations of both the Sarajevo Canton and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina governments; and the formation of non-party governments.
• No measures, of any kind, to be undertaken that would limit peaceful citizen protests.
• The immediate release of demonstrators, no criminal case filings against them, and an end to the witch hunt of people.
When these demands are met, we can then ask for the start of conversations and actions at all levels of government in order to establish a more socially just order for all social strata; and for all those whose human dignity and material basic needs have been endangered or destroyed by the transitional theft, corruption, nepotism, privatization of public resources, an economic model that favors the rich, and financial arrangements that have destroyed any hope for a society based on social justice and welfare.
To establish such a social justice order, before we undertake any social measures are, we demand an immediate end to the larceny of this society cloaked in politics, and criminal prosecution of those responsible. Only when all of that is complete, can we begin to build something new for all of us.
Demonstranti iz Sarajeva zahtijevaju ostavke kompletnih vlada KS i FBiH
Nekoliko stotina građana Sarajeva u poslijepodnevnim satima subote ponovo su izašli na ulice. Protest ispred zgrade Predsjedništva BiH bio je miran, a građani su poručili da će takav ostati, te pozivaju i ostale da im se pridruže u dostojanstvenom iskazivanju nezadovoljstva stanjem u zemlji.
Kako javlja reporter portala Klix.ba s mjesta događaja, još uvijek se niko nije izdvojio kao vođa protesta, no nekoliko prisutnih dijeli letke sa zahtjevima demonstranata.
U zahtjevu se izražava žaljenje zbog povrijeđenih i materijalne štete tokom jučerašnjih protesta, ali « naše žaljenje se proteže i na fabrike, javne prostore, ustanove kulture i nauke, na ljudske egzistencije koje su svojim direktnim djelovanjem uništili oni koji više od 20 godina čine naše vlasti. Molimo sve naše sugrađane i sapatnike da ne dozvole da im neugodni prizori zamagle činjenicu da nas ovakve vlasti već godinama koštaju neuporedivo više.
Stoga zahtijevamo:
– Bezuslovnu i momentalnu ostavku Vlade Kantona Sarajevo i Vlade Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine i formiranje nestranačkih vlada.
– Nepreduzimanje nikakvih mjera kojima bi se ograničile mirne demonstracije građanstva.
– Hitno oslobađanje demonstranata, nepokretanje krivičnih postupaka i obustavljanje lova na ljude.
« Kad ovi zahtjevi budu ispunjeni možemo tražiti otpočinjanje razgovora i djelovanja na svim nivoima vlasti u cilju uspostavljanja socijalno pravednijeg poretka za sve kategorije društva i sve ostale kojima su ljudsko dostojanstvo i materijalna egzistencija ugroženi ili uništeni tranzicijskom pljačkom, korupcijom, nepotizmom, privatizacijom javnih dobara, ekonomskim modelom koji favorizuje bogate i finansijskim aranžmanima koji su ubili i samu nadu u društvo socijalne pravde i blagostanja. Uspostavljanje takvog poretka, prije bilo kakvih socijalnih mjera, zahtijeva momentalno obustavljanje pljačke društva upakovane u politiku i krivično gonjenje odgovornih. Tek kad se to učini, možemo početi graditi nešto novo za sve nas », stoji u zahtjevu demonstranata koji su se okupili ispred zgrade Predsjedništva BiH.
(Klix.ba)
Bihac
Protesters have sent their list of 13 demands to the Parliament of the Una-Sana Canton:
1. Resignation and replacement of the Una-Sana Canton (USC) government and all directors of public institutions and public enterprises.
2. Appointment of the new government of USC and the new directors, without influence of politics in choice of prime ministers and ministers (professional governance – with public release of biographies and the reasons for their appointment).
3. Matching salaries in the public sector to the industrial sector, so that the highest public sector salary cannot be higher than three average salaries in the industrial sector.
4. Matching salaries in the public sector to the educational/professional level.
5. Public release of documents for tenders in the last 10 years and in the future.
6. Matching levels of budget appropriations for agricultural production in the budgets at all levels of government to the European Union standards.
7. Matching educational standards, at all levels, to the European Union standards.
8. Matching the number of employees in the public sector to the European Union standards.
9. Finalizing construction of the veterans’ building, at the latest by the elections of 2014.
10. Ending all additional privileges for government officials.
11. Ending additional financing of representatives and employees in the administrative institutions, on the basis of various commissions.
12. Ending the salaries and other privileges of all politicians following the end of their term.
13. Immediate end to the use of force by the police toward the protesters and vice versa.
(…) Bihać, 19:00
Kako javlja reporter Al Jazeere Ivan Čorkalo, vođa protesta u Bihaću Edin Delić Piksi se, nakon kratkog dogovora u zgradi Vlade, obratio demonstrantima.
Zakazan je sastanak sa premijerom u ponedjeljak, na kojem će se tražiti ostavka vlade USK-a sa premijerom Lipovačom na čelu. Okupljeni su se razišli. Policija je uhapsila nekoliko demonstranata.
Demonstranti su spisak sa 13 zahtjeva uputili Skupštini Unsko-sanskog kantona:
1. Smjena Vlade USK-a i svih direktora javnih ustanova i javnih preduzeća
2. Imenovanje nove vlade USK-a i direktora bez utjecaja politike na odabir premijera i ministara (stručna vlada – sa javnom objavom biografija i razlozima imenovanja)
3. Usklađivanje plata u javnom sektoru tako da najviša ne smije preći visinu tri prosječne plate u proizvodnom sektoru
4. Usklađivanje plata u javnom sektoru prema visini stručne spreme
5. Javno objavljivanje tenderske dokumentacije iz posljednjih 10 godina i ubuduće
6. Usklađivanje budžetskih izdvajanja za poljoprivrednu proizvodnju iz budžeta na svim nivoima vlasti sa standardima Evropske unije
7. Usklađivanje obrazovnih standarda na svim nivoima obrazovanja sa standardima Evropske unije
8. Usklađivanje broja zaposlenih u javnom sektoru sa standardima Evropske unije
9. Završavanje izgradnje boračke zgrade najdalje do izbora 2014.
10. Ukidanje svih dodatnih privilegija državnim službenicima
11. Ukidanje dodatnog finansiranja poslanika i zaposlenika u organima uprave na osnovu raznih komisija
12. Ukidanje plata i ostalih privilegija svim političarima nakon isteka mandata
13. Hitan prestanak upotrebe sile policije prema demonstrantima i demostranata prema policiji (…)
Jasmin Mujanović, 8 février 2014